Ceredig ap Cunedda (died 453), was a possibly fictional or at least not well attested in reliable sources king of

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

in Wales. "Lives of the Cambro British saints"
p. 396, 1853, Rev. William Jenkins Rees He may have been born c. 420 in the

Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', , ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were the Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, ...

ic kingdom of

Manaw Gododdin Manaw Gododdin was the narrow coastal region on the south side of the Firth of Forth, part of the Brythonic-speaking Kingdom of Gododdin in the post-Roman Era. It is notable as the homeland of Cunedda prior to his conquest of North Wales, and ...

(modern

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

), centred on the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

in the area known as

Yr Hen Ogledd Hen Ogledd (), meaning the Old North, is the historical region that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands, alongside the fellow Brittonic Cel ...

. Little is known of him. One of the sons of

Cunedda Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' (reigned – c. 460), was an important early Welsh people, Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of Western Europe. Nam ...

, grandfather of

Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...

, according to

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions ha ...

, he arrived in what is now modern

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

from Gododdin with his father's family when they were invited to help ward off Irish invaders. As a reward for his bravery, his father gave him the southernmost part of the territories in north-west Wales reconquered from the Irish. The realm is traditionally supposed to have been called ''Ceredigion'' after him, which led to the name of modern

, one of the

principal areas of Wales The principal areas of Wales, comprising the counties and county boroughs of Wales, are a Subdivisions of Wales, form of subdivision in Wales. There are currently 22 principal areas in Wales, and they were established in 1996. They are a singl ...

. He married

Meleri Saint Meleri was a late 5th century Welsh saint and Queen of Ceredigion. Meleri was one of the 24 daughters of King Brychan Brycheiniog of Brycheiniog (now Brecknockshire) in Wales. She married King Ceredig of Ceredigion, one of the son of Cune ...

, one of the many daughters of King

Brychan Brycheiniog Brychan ap Anlach of Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales. Name variations Brychan had Irish ancestry and came from Ireland to Wales, therefore his original name ...

of Brycheiniog (now Brecknockshire). Amongst their children was a daughter named Ina who is thought to be the Saint Ina to whom St Ina's Church in Llanina near

New Quay New Quay () is a seaside town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town ...

, Ceredigion is dedicated, and a son named Sanctus who in legend

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person w ...

Saint Non Non (also Nonna or Nonnita) was, according to Christian tradition, the mother of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales. Legend The ''Life of St David'' was written around 1095 by Rhigyfarch, and is our main source of knowledge for the lives ...

and is the father of

Footnotes

{{Reflist

References

Lives of the Cambro British saints

William Jenkins Rees William Jenkins Rees (10 January 1772 – 18 January 1855) was a Welsh cleric and antiquary.Dictionary o ...

, Thomas Wakeman, 1835
A history of Wales from the earliest times

John Edward Lloyd Sir John Edward Lloyd (5 May 1861 – 20 June 1947) was a Welsh historian. Early life and eduction John Edward Lloyd was born in Liverpool on 5 May 1861. He was educated in the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (which later become ...

, 1911
The Cambrian, A Bi-Monthly Published in the interest of the Welsh people and their descendants in the United States, 1881, Vol. 1, 1881
Legendary Welsh people British traditional history Britons of the North Monarchs of Ceredigion